Belt lacing



Dec. 17, 1929.. c, LARSON 1,740,181

BELT LACING Original Filed Aug. 24, 1927 INVENTO W 1 BY Patented Dec. 17, 1929 unrrso STATES CARL B. LARSON, 0F MAPLEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 C. B. LARSON & CO., INC.,

PATENT omen OF IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY BELT LAGING Original application filed August 24, 1927, Serial No. 1928. Serial While I have hereinafter described my invention as applied to lacing of fabric belts, I desire to be understood that the principle thereof may be applied with equal efiectiveness to lacing of other varieties, and, therefore, my invention is not to be limited to the lacing of fabric belts.

The problem of connecting two ends of fabric belts, generally termed the lacing of the belt, is a difficult one if the lacing is to be accomplished so as to provide a durable connection and one wherein the load carried by the belt will be uniformly distributed across the width of the belt at the joint.

One of the difficulties encountered is that of preventing the raveling of the ends of the belt, as a result of which the lacing means become disengaged or tear out. I overcome this difficulty by crossing the shanks of the lacing means, placing a fabric over the end of the belt and clinching the lacing means through the belt and the fabric.

Another difficulty encountered is that of so arranging the piercing points of the lacing means as to produce maximum strength. I overcome this objection by staggering the piercing points of adjacent lacing means so that a piercing point appears at the corner of a substantially equilateral triangle. Incidental to my method is the feature of economy which is accomplished by so arranging and holding the lacing means as to avoid waste thereof. This is accomplished by feeding the lacing means through a metal container which prevents distorting or losing the hooks until the last one is withdrawn and clinched.

My invention will be better understood by reading the following description in connection with the drawings illustrating one embodiment thereof, and in which- Fig. 1 shows one of the lacing hooks in side elevation;

Fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the end of a belt with the lacing hooks in position therein;

Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of the end of the belt showing one of the hooks in clinched position, with a separate piece of fabric over the end of the belt to prevent raveling;

stantially equilateral triangle.

215,030. Divided and this application filed July 25, No. 295,205.

Fig. 4 shows an end view of a suitablecontainer having hooks therein; and

- Fig. 5 shows a rear view of the container filled with hooks.

The hooks used are substantially identical and a description of one will, therefore, apply to all. The hooks comprise a long shank 1 and a shorter shank 2 which cross each other at the point 3 and form an eye l. On the ends of the shanks 1 and 2 are prongs 5 and 6, respectively. These prongs are pointed to facilitate the passage thereof into the belt.

The end of the belt is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 in the position normally assumed by it relative to the hooks. I prefer to place over the end of thebelt a piece of fabric 7, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, through which the'prongs of the hooks pass and hold securely in place, as shown in Fig. 3, and against which the shanks 1 and 2 press to hold the threads at the end of the belt in position to prevent raveling. Raveling will be prevented without the use of the fabric 7 by the shanks 1 and 2 of the hooks, but a better looking and also somewhat better working connection is produced by the use of the fabric than without it. That is to say, without the fabric the shanks have a tendency to go into the end of the belt at certain places to a somewhat greater extent than at other places with the result that a connection is produced which appears to be somewhat uneven, whereas with the fabric the shanks are evenly and uniformly placed and, in my opinion, produce a stronger joint than without the fabric.

The eyes 1 of the hooks are accurately alined and when the eyes on one end of the belt are placed in between the eyes on the other end of the belt, a connecting pin of any usual construction may be placed through these eyes and the two ends of the belt will thereby be securely held in connected relation.

By referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the ends A, B and C are at the points of a sub- It will be noted that the prongs on the shanks of a given hook are laterally offset with respect to each other. The points A and B are the long shanks of adjacent hooks and the point C is the short shank of one of these hooks. This same relation between the long and short shanks of the adjacent hooks is preferably maintained throughout the width of the belt. As a result of which, a stronger connection is produced than would be the case if the two shanks of'the' hooks were of the same length, in which event the belt would be pierced across its width in a straight line. By varying the lengths of the shanks, it will be apparent that I have not materially weakened the fabric of the belt at any point with a result that a much stronger connection is produced than would otherwise be the case.

Because of the fact that the prongs 5 and 6 of the shanks are turned back toward the eye 4, and because of the further fact that the shanks cross each other, the tendency is for the shanks to approach each other when stress is put on the belt rather than to separate from each other, as would be the case if the shanks did not cross each other at the point 3'. This adds strength to the joint.

In Figs. 4 and 5, 1 have illustrated a convenient form of container for the hooks. Preferably this container 8 is of metal and is of a single piece triangular in cross section, as shown in Fig. 4. The sides 9 and 10 appreach each other but leave an opening sufficient so that the cross shanks 1 and 2 may pass through this opening at the cross-over point 8 of the shanks. All that extends outwardly from the container, therefore, are the eyes 4 of the hooks. A plurality of hooks is shown in such container in Fig. 5, having the eyes 4 extending therefrom, the container being broken away to show two of the hooks in elevation. This container is arranged so that it may be bodily and readily attached to a suitable machine, such as that shown in my copending application Serial No. 215,030, from which the hooks are automatically ejected and placed in position to be clinched through the belt. Lugs 11 are placed at the end of the sides 9 and 10 and act to hold the hooks in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5. When the container is placed in the machine the lugs 11 areeither broken off or straightened out so that the hooks may be fed by the machine from the container into the clinching means. A rod 12 is placed through the eyes 4 and acts to keep the hooks in alinement, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

I'prefer to arrange the short shanks 2 of the hooks so that they will come on the pulley side of the belt, because, as is well known, when the metallic shanks of the hooks engage the pulley there is less tractive effort between the metal of the shanks and the pulley than there is between the fabric belt and the pulley. There is, therefore, an actual slippage or a tendency to slip. By placing the short shanks of the hooks on the pulley side this slippage or tendency to slip is decreased, if not in fact entirely eliminated.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that many advantages have been secured by the features above described in detail.

This is a division of my copending application Serial No. 215,030, filed August 24, 1927.

I. claim:

A fabric belt lacing comprising a plurality of hooks piercing each end of the belt, the shanks of said hooks crossing each other adjacent the: ends of. the belt, a binding member over each end of the belt and in engagement with the said shanks near the cross-over whereby the ends of the belt are prevented from raveling.

CARL B. LARSON. 

